NewsRelease

(Posted 4-27-04)
Contact: Dan Nonte, 336-334-5371

Observatory to Offer Comet Viewing May 13-15

GREENSBORO – Neat, indeed.

Three College Observatory will be open to the public to view Comet Neat May 13-15.

Comet Neat is a rare naked-eye comet discovered in 2001. It will be brightest and closest to the Earth in mid-May, though astronomers cannot accurately predict its actual brightness.

Observation will begin at 8:30 p.m. each night provided the skies are clear. Please call (336) 334-3242 after 6 p.m. on the night of your viewing to determine if the sky is clear enough to see the comet.

Admission is free, but reservations are required. For reservations or more information, write to The University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Physics and Astronomy at P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC  27402-6170; or visit http://www.uncg.edu/phy/tco.

 The observatory is operated by three colleges: UNCG, N.C. A&T, and Guilford College. Its 32-inch telescope is the largest in North Carolina and is able to collect 26,000 times as much light as the human eye.

The observatory is near Snow Camp, about eight miles south of Burlington, and halfway between Greensboro and Chapel Hill. The drive from Greensboro takes roughly 45 minutes.

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